THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 30, 1995 TAG: 9504300046
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TONY WHARTON AND KAREN WEINTRAUB, STAFF WRITERS
LENGTH: Long : 108 lines
George Washington is to blame - at least in part - for Virginia Beach's water problems.
The nation's first president may not have cut down a cherry tree, but he helped finance the digging of a canal through the Great Dismal Swamp in 1793, forever changing this area's water history.
Virginia Beach and North Carolina changed it again last week with a negotiated agreement that will allow Hampton Roads cities to withdraw 60 million gallons a day of water from Lake Gaston.
Back in the 1700s, Washington's Dismal Swamp Canal Co. moved dirt to create a canal and road that cut the flow to the Northwest River - which could have been a primary source of drinking water for Chesapeake and Virginia Beach.
Instead, the river level dropped, and now, during dry periods, it is often tainted by salty water from Currituck Sound.
Aside from the first president's activities, there were actually two critical eras that defined the current water situation in South Hampton Roads:
In the 1920s, when Norfolk and Portsmouth locked up much of the local water supply in lakes to the west.
In the early 1960s, when rural leaders in the old Norfolk and Princess Anne counties chose to form new cities rather than to allow Norfolk to continue annexing their land.
The cities parted on bad terms, and water has equaled power in Hampton Roads ever since.
It has been offered for land, trash and roads. It has been used in the marketing of the old, core cities and downplayed by those who would bring economic development to the newer communities.
And, water struggles are a source of lingering bad feelings among residents of the five major cities of South Hampton Roads.
``I don't think there's any question about that,'' said John Maxwell, who was city manager of Chesapeake from 1978 to 1984 and is now a consultant with Municipal Advisors in Virginia Beach. ``There were bitter references to the annexation wars. I remember people saying things like, `Well, they used to be part of Norfolk County, you know.' ''
In 1918, Norfolk bought Lake Prince and Lake Burnt Mills in what is now Suffolk. The city did not have immediate plans to develop them as water resources. But a terrible drought hit the region in 1919-20, and Norfolk voters approved a project in 1920 to develop Lake Prince as a water resource.
Today, plans call for the water from Lake Gaston to go into Lake Prince on its way to faucets and lawns in Virginia Beach.
Norfolk's water foresight, and similar actions by Portsmouth at about the same time, set those cities in the roles they would play for the rest of this century.
The present-day cities stepped into their parts in the early 1960s, when powerful figures such as Sydney Kellam in Virginia Beach, W. Fred Duckworth in Norfolk, and T. Ray Hassell in Chesapeake, were intent on building or preserving their turf.
Regionalism was hardly an issue then. Cities were the future, not the ``city-states'' that form today's metropolitan areas. Water shortages were not an issue either, because no one had any idea Virginia Beach and Chesapeake would grow as much or as fast as they did.
Real estate veteran Hunter A. Hogan Jr. remembers when, as it became clear that the new suburbs would form, Norfolk Mayor W. Fred Duckworth wanted to stop them from using water.
``Duckworth threatened to cut off Virginia Beach's water, and Virginia Beach about had a stroke over it,'' Hogan said, referring to the old resort town and Princess Anne County. ``That was what stirred up the fuss over water.''
Duckworth couldn't legally cut off Virginia Beach's supply. But the hard feelings remained.
When it became clear Norfolk and Portsmouth would be ``land-locked,'' no longer able to expand by annexing into the counties, they became more determined than ever to hold onto their water.
Efforts in the '60s and '70s by Chesapeake and Virginia Beach to form water partnerships with Norfolk and Portsmouth, rather than have a buy-sell relationship, came to nothing.
``Virginia Beach wanted to become a partner in Norfolk's system at one point,'' said Neal Windley, director of general services in Norfolk and a former assistant city manager. ``But it was the one resource Norfolk had, and there was not a sentiment to give up that particular resource.''
Maxwell said, ``I have to tell you, at least in my experiences dealing with Norfolk and Portsmouth at the time, they were very willing to sell us water, and they were very cooperative. But they were not interested in selling their investment or giving up a portion or share of their investment.''
Other efforts to approach the water issue as a region failed over the years.
Virginians along the Appomattox River asked cities in this area if they were interested in cooperating in a new reservoir there; nothing happened.
A regional water authority was even formed, which is now SPSA, the Southeastern Public Service Authority. But the region's cities would not give it true power or resources, and SPSA now handles only garbage.
As long and difficult as the struggle for water in South Hampton Roads has been, James R. Spacek, Portsmouth director of public utilities, said it's far from over.
``If the numbers are right and the demographics are right, what Gaston means is about a 26-year hiatus and then we have to start worrying again (about where to find more water),'' he said. ``Gaston . . . took 12 years. So that means if we're good to the year 2020, when do we start again?'' ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
JOHN CORBITT/Staff
HOW NORFOLK GETS ITS WATER
[For complete graphic, please see microfilm]
KEYWORDS: WATER SUPPLY PLAN by CNB